BGC Hostel and Dorm Makati: Travel Review

BGC Hostel and Dorm in Makati is a relatively new hostel in the Metro. With its cute aesthetic, modern amenities, and instagramable lobbies, they are turning out to be the go-to hostel for the hip crowd.

Location

The great thing abour BGC Hostel, Makati branch, is that it stands near a major highway EDSA. However, it is not too far from any MRT station to be walkable. From Buendia MRT Station, it takes 10 minutes of walking, and 15 minutes of walking from Guadalupe MRT Station. Buses and cabs then are also the option to use to get around the area. Most buses and cabs pass through EDSA which is a minute walk from the hostel.

There are a lot of convenience stores that are walking distance. Most of those convenience stores are within the premises of gas stations. Right at the corner of the street stands a 24 Hour Drug store that not only carries medicine, but other paraphernalia you might need during your stay.

A few local eateries litter the streets near the hostel, too. Unfortunately, no fast food or fancy food establishments can be found nearby. The available space for parking spans for around 2 cars, but plenty street parking spots around the area can be found, too.

Room

The room we got was a 4 person dorm room. It had 2 bunk beds and a small locker of four. I like that there is at least an outlet provided for each bed. The room itself doesn’t fit a lot, but has enough space not to feel cramped. It gets a bit noisy especially since the walls are thin and the 4 person dorm is near the television and the lobby. Upside is that its super close to all the bathrooms.

Not only that, each bed has a curtain and a lamp. I love that they thought of how important privacy is for a hostel. And the lamp that minimizes disturbances of turning on and off the main light in the room. Most importantly, in case you want to stay awake and everyone else in the room is asleep, you have an option to have a personal ray of light. Me, I used my lamp as a night light.

The bed’s frames are a bit loose so it felt quite dangerous going up and down the bunk, but not difficult. The air conditioning is also powerful. If you want it set to a different temperature, simply ask the front desk to do so.

Lockers

My biggest concern would maybe be the size of the lockers. I think that they fit too little things inside them. A carry on luggage won’t be able to fit inside. It does have some cool locks that you can change the code every time you lock it. All you have to do, when the lock is at open, set it to your preferred combination, close the locker door, and turn the knob to lock. Your preferred combination now is the password of the locker. Flip the numbers to randomize and hide your password. Simple and ingenius.

Security

Aside from being equipped with lockers that you can set your own preferred combination, they have equipped the rooms with a modern card key smart door lock. You can not enter a room without your card (which serves as a key) for extra security. A security guard is on call outside the premises at all times, too.

Bathrooms

They provide 3 public bathrooms (with toilet and shower) on the first floor of the BGC Hostel and Dorms. They put one under the stairs and the other two near the dining area. The two near the dining area looks dingy and not as well maintained as the one under the stairs. They equipped all the bathrooms with a heater AND made sure that the water pressure doesn’t suck. Woohoo! They give you a towel for your use, but no toiletries.

Dining Area

The Hostel’s dining area could be better. It was dirty, messy, and did not smell pleasant. It felt cramped and haphazrdly put together. Frankly, it feels like a different hostel altogether. The dining area looks so different from the aesthetic than BGC Hostel pushes. I wish they put as much thought and effort of maintaining this area as they did in the reception.They do have plates and mugs available for use of the guests. I did not see a place to put dirty dishes though, nor was there dishwashing soap and sponge for you to clean up your own mess. Maybe that contributed to the disarray of the dining area. Near the entrance, a hot and cold water dispenser is there for free.

Computer Area

They have a computer area for anyone’s use. It’s connected to the internet. A normal PC, running on Windows 8, if I remember correctly. You can access Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, etc on the PC. I love that the super convenient staple for everyday life is free to use.

WiFi

The wifi is available in all common areas as well as all the rooms. In particular, the four person dorm room we stayed in had a very strong connection to the wifi. Although the wifi connection seems stable, the speed runs slow. However, the speed is still tolerable. Not a great one to use for gaming and watching videos, but enough to open browser based apps and such.

Mobile Data

Globe and Smart both have a 4G connection inside BGC Hostel. Definitely faster than their net, but I like saving my data during times like these so I still opted to use their wifi.

Price Range

You can book directly through them or through this site. As usual, the prices are dependent on the seasons (whether peak or not). You can check out the present rates here.Currently, they offer a soft opening promo. The price of Php499 per head for a bed in a dormitory, however, without breakfast. Inclusive of all the amenities.

Overall of BGC Hostel and Dorm

For a hostel, I think that they are definitely a top choice. Of course, there are a few things I’d love to see improve, but the price range and quality are very much worth it. I hope their other branches are closer to MRTs and LRTs for easier accessibility. I mean, a 10 minute walk isn’t really far, but I’m super lazy sometimes. Plus, it gets quite dangerous to walk around at night.

I love that they think of their customers privacy and security. It feels less intrusive than most of the hostels I’ve been too.

Protips:

Bring multi-outlet for charging multiple devices at the same time

Have fast food delivered to the hostel instead of going to a mall to get food

Bring your smallest luggage/backpack to make it fit inside the lockers